Tag: 3D

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is metal as fuck. It’s the purest and one of the best straight action films I’ve seen. While the film rarely takes a breath during its two hour runtime, the little snippets of characterization provide compelling reasons to root for the heroes, and even sympathize with its villains. Also, while I don’t know if you could call it a “feminist piece”, it handles a surprising wealth of female characters with incredible grace, never falling prey to the genre’s most common failings of damseling its women or…

Do you like roller coasters? Do you like Marvel movies? If you answered “yes” to both of these, AGE OF ULTRON is going to be a hella good time for you! Go see it. Now. You’ll probably want to ride it again as soon as you’re through. If your answer was “no” to either of those, or you’re concerned with the film’s currently measly 75% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, let me address the concerns. Roller Coasters: This film has 6 protagonists when it starts, and the number only grows from…

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is one of the most entertaining movies I’ve ever seen. In fact, I think THE AVENGERS is maybe the only movie in recent memory that rivals it for sheer “fun factor.” There are certainly higher quality, more intelligently plotted, and better paced adventure movies out there. (Heck, WINTER SOLDIER was pretty silly and it was still a “smarter” film.) But nothing this summer will beat the bang for your popcorn-chomping movie buck than GUARDIANS. Silly plot and pulp stylings may be a “low” goal, but the…

EDGE OF TOMORROW, you had me at “GROUNDHOG DAY during an alien invasion”. But the most surprising thing about you is that you come so close to the greatness of that Bill Murray classic. The film reuses the concept of a never-ending day in novel ways. Making the most of the genre leap, it results in not only some harrowing sci-fi action, but also fantastic character development. Try as I might to dislike Tom Cruise for starring in seemingly every other action movie, he’s used extremely well in the film.…

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 is a successful sequel on almost every level. The journey of the lovable characters from the first movie are continued and explored in meaningful ways, stretching naturally into the challenges of young adulthood. The high flying action is taken to new levels of excitement, and the stakes are higher this time around as there is more for the characters to lose. Impressive new characters are introduced into the fold, and the female gaze is aptly used to hilarious effect. The most important improvement though…

For the life of me, I don’t know who MALEFICENT was made for. It seems like it wants to be for fans of the titular villain, but while Jolie is fantastic in the horns, she is Maleficent in iconography alone. It seems like it wants to be made for fans of the stage play WICKED, aping a similar fan-fic-that-absolves-the-villain plot gimmick, but unlike WICKED, it doesn’t even attempt to honor the source material. In this it seems to actively oppose catering to fans of Disney’s original SLEEPING BEAUTY. Its plot…

GODZILLA (the newest movie by this name) suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. It takes great strides to be a more faithful modern American interpretation of the original movie series than the abysmal 1998 film of the same name. But like many modern adaptations of dated properties, something is lost in the translation. The film is technically put together quite nicely, with solid vfx, cinematography, sound design, and even a few good performances (though the best departs far too soon). All these things line up with what you’d…

Let’s get one thing out of the way: X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is the finest film of the franchise yet. It focuses on only the absolute best things that the X-films have offered over the past 14 years, and does so with intelligent balance, poise, and a budget that’s FINALLY worthy of a superhero franchise. (Thanks for finally coming around on that, Fox.) Aside from how effortlessly its massive scope is handled, the most impressive thing about the film is how human its story is. Yes. The fate of…

Pictured: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, heroically holding the weight of his sequel’s issues. Chief among these is a plot that doesn’t quite know where it wants to focus, resulting in a movie that feels a bit too long, and simultaneously too short. Similarly the tone and quality of dialogue oscillates wildly from scene to scene, from schlocky to charming. The film does a lot of things right, however. Visually it is hands down the most stunning realization of swinging through New York yet filmed. (Yes. You should see this in theaters.…

Marvel has upped their game again with CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, and while it never quite reaches giddy fan service highs of THE AVENGERS, it firmly stands above their other films to date in its breadth of accomplishments. Familiarity with these characters certainly helps them keep the plot tighter, but I think Marvel is just getting better and better with each try at figuring out what makes an adventure blockbuster totally kick ass! While Cap’s learned some killer new moves, and The Falcon flies in with some exhilarating aerial…